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This thread is for those of you with questions about the Sword Art Online anime or manga. There are many questions that don't need a whole thread to discuss them. A simple practical answer straight from the anime or manga without any speculation can solve these connundrums. If someone has such a question about Sword Art Online which can be solved by answering with facts from an official source, then please ask that question here.

Please don't post in this thread unless you are asking a question or answering one. Please remember that it only takes 1 person to answer a question. And don't speculate! You can only reply with cold, hard, merciliessly unforgivable facts. If you have to speculate, then please just tell the querrant that no answer is known, but here are some facts that might help him make up his own mind.

Make sure you use spoiler tags if your question is about the anime, manga, or any non-anime source. Untagged spoilers are risking a ban. There are two ways to create clearly marked spoiler tags, as shown in the following:

The easy way: By simply clicking on this icon which can be found in the Quick Reply or Reply to Thread template. This is how I create spoiler tags.

or

The macho way: By using those uber vB codes as shown in the following...

Spoiler Tag Example

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1. Is the concept of SAO is exactly like Hardcore Diablo 2 or 3?
2. Does PK really exist?
3. Does the concept of 'stats' exist? (ATK for damage, INT for magic damage, VIT for defense, DEX for accuracy and so on)
4. Does trade scam exist in SAO?
5. Is Kirito already an expert in SAO?

Indeed they do. And they're the source of opposition in a couple stories. These people understand that they're really killing people. And that's what makes them so dangerous.

Quote:

3. Does the concept of 'stats' exist? (ATK for damage, INT for magic damage, VIT for defense, DEX for accuracy and so on)

Spoiler for Answer:

As far as I remember the only stats really mentioned are Strength and Dexterity. Strength governs how hard you hit and what weapons you can wield while Dexterity is how fast you move. What also important is skills. There are limited slots for skills (Kirito has 12 slots). These skills govern everything from your weapon and armor proficiency, to general skills like stealth, various crafting skills, and even appraising items. Skills improve through constant use and range from 0-1000. They can be dumped at any time for a new skill if you feel like training it from 0.

Quote:

4. Does trade scam exist in SAO?

Spoiler for Answer:

If there are they aren't mentioned. Kirito only deals with merchants he trusts and is friends with.

Quote:

5. Is Kirito already an expert in SAO?

Spoiler for Answer:

Very much so. He was one of a thousand players that got to play SWO in the beta period for one month. In the beginning, he knows just about everything about the first ten floors.

«Beater» is a portmanteau of the words «Beta Tester» and «Cheater». Beta Testers have a bad reputation among the players of «SAO», since most of them had gone solo and did not bother to help the new players after the start of the death game was announced.

The term was first created after Kirito defined the difference between «Newbies» and MMO players that got selected as beta testers. He chose to create this swear as a way of pushing the discrimination of SAO to the minimum. He ended up being the first person to be called «Beater».

At that time, most of the beta players were also being blamed by other players for not being aware of the true nature of SAO (That it's a death game and you die IRL if you die ingame). Kirito did some calculations and figured that comparatively speaking, the casualty rate for beta testers was actually higher than that of new players (even if the actual figure in dead bodies was lower).

By the time Volume 1 kicks around, the hate seems to have gone down somewhat, but at that point Kirito's only interactions with others are with Asuna, Cline, Scilica, Lizbeth and Agil, who're all friends; and the other clearers, who at this point don't really give a shit and just want to get the game over and done with.

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~Speaking my mind, even when it costs me~One must forgive one's enemies, but not before they are hanged.Heinrich Heine.

I was wondering how the players are being taken care of in real life. Someone told me that they were put in hospitals but I was wondering how they could be moved without the game being turned off. I know they said the helmet has an internal battery but wouldn't it still need to be hooked up to some kind of console for the game to work? I know there was some kind of cable being plugged in during the opening scene.

I was wondering how the players are being taken care of in real life. Someone told me that they were put in hospitals but I was wondering how they could be moved without the game being turned off. I know they said the helmet has an internal battery but wouldn't it still need to be hooked up to some kind of console for the game to work? I know there was some kind of cable being plugged in during the opening scene.

Spoiler for Hospital answer:

They were allowed to be taken off from computer for 2 hours, taking helm off would still trigger battery, to allow them to be transported to hospital, it happened at same time for everyone (government was behind that)

At some point after Episode 1 takes place, everyone was struck unconscious/asleep for about 2 hours, which was the safe time Kayaba gave to the govt to move the SAO victims to hospitals. In-universe, it was suspected that the NervGears were placed into sleep mode. After that, they were stuck for good.

Also, the next gen VRMMO headset, the AmuSphere, is wireless, as is the NervGear - note the WAN light and the power button. My guess is that it's either a power cable, or an interface for installing from PC to NervGear, like how you can pop a disc into a PC and set a specific hard drive for your game installs.

Or Kirito's house already has wired ethernet ports - in my old house we actually wired up a few places with ethernet cables, before switching to wi-fi in our current place.

__________________

~Speaking my mind, even when it costs me~One must forgive one's enemies, but not before they are hanged.Heinrich Heine.